


The Cursed Sword and The Silver Song

by cymrymira



Series: The Adventures of Kit and Leona and a Few Other Friends! [7]
Category: Original characters - Fandom, World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 08:04:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16950174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cymrymira/pseuds/cymrymira
Summary: Secrets from the Silversong past come back to haunt Raine.





	1. Not Dead But...

**Not Dead But...**   
  


_“It’s our past, our present, and our future. Our destiny.”_  
  
The words didn’t fade from Raine’s mind as she wandered through the forest, trying to find her way back to the campsite that was serving as her clinic for now.  
  
She was taking her time for a reason, she had stopped by a graveyard to talk to a Spirit Healer there, another to speak quietly with a servant of Helya, a battlefield to flag down one of Odyn’s shield maidens.  
  
Loreilei would not be in any version of the afterlife.   
  
She was a victim of the curse, the same as their mother, that sword had claimed them both.  
  
Or rather… Raine guessed it had.  
  
There was much to learn, and she knew little of shadows like that… her shadows were as pure as her light, yet as different from them as Life and Death.  
  
“I need help.”  
  
Would they help her? One had already made it quite clear she was not a part of their organization…   
  
She took a deep breath, she had to try. Whatever the reason that the cursed sword claimed those two, it was not simply something she could solve on her own.  
  
Raine had not grown up a Silversong. She was taken from her family long before she could even remember. Long before Alandrine erased everything she could from her.  
  
Even still… she was a part of this. Lore was her sister, they knew this even before Cero had done those blood tests.  
  
She would save her.   
 ****  
Even if it meant going back into the shadows to do so… Raine would not allow Lore’s light to fade.  
  


* * *

It was a peaceful day in Krasarang, and Elder Litsu smiled at the young boy that was riding a turtle on the beach as her daughter and the other students of Lady Raine were fishing in the ocean.  
  
“Do not stray too far!” she called to Taladren, then glanced as Younger Litsu and her friends waved and left the beach to return to the farm, there was still much work to do for harvest.

“I will bring Taladren home soon,” she waved, then moved to go after the him.  
  
She never saw the sword that twisted itself into her back, and she fell into the sand and water, her eyes going lifeless as an armored woman walked past her and picked up the small boy.  
  
“Hello dearest, let’s go home, your Nana’s here, you’re perfectly safe.”  
  
_____________________________________________  
  
Raine was pacing back and forth, going between chewing her nails and wringing her hands as she glanced towards the fields of Farondale, searching for any signs of the hunter returning.  
  
She had at first kept herself busy with healing the patients in her mobile clinic, but they were all resting peacefully now.  
  
Litsu… her oldest friend in Pandaria… was dead. Karalina had come to personally tell her that her spirit had moved on.  
  
There was no word of Taladren, but given what had happened with Lore…   
  
Raine was a wreck. He was supposed to be safe. He was never supposed to  _ever_ be in danger.  
  
He was four, just a  _baby_ …  
  
Was this about the sword? About her mother and Loreilei?  
  
What did the Silversong and the Cursed Sword have to do with each other anyways?

Cero was looking into it, Vel was going to try a few different techniques.  
  
Raine took a deep breath, Taladren would be safe, he would be gotten back.  
  
She glanced at her patients and chewed her thumbnail.  
  
Could she leave them to look for her son?   
  
One took a shuddering breath and she paled. The very short and immediate answer was no. These people would die if she left them now.  
  
Taladren was alive. He had to be  _safe_.

She was waiting on Leos, she had to ask, he was a hunter after all, he could find her child.  
  
If not, she would go, leave these here to…

She shook her head, there had to be another way. Leos would agree to help, she knew it, she had to put her faith in him and in Crimson Wings.  
  
But…  
  
This was one of the very few times she had a hard time with her Faith. She looked up at the night sky.  
  
It was very dark tonight… shadows seemed to take even the stars away.  
  
“Even after the longest night, the sun rises,” she whispered to herself, forcing her eyes to close and for her faith to regrow.   
  
But…  
  
How long was this night to last…?


	2. Medicine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brief interlude.

**Medicine**

10 / 2016

Raine blinked as she checked Leos vitals, “I am so, so sorry,” she whispered, taking an arm over her shoulder and half dragging him to bed, “I thought the herbs were a calming agent, but not to this extent.”  
  
She frowned, she didn’t mean to drug him, she was just trying a painkiller, “He’s going to  _kill_ me when he wakes up,” she groaned, “But… I guess the silver lining, is worse comes to worse, I can use this mixture to sedate the patients when it comes time to move them to the new clinic.”  
  
Raine flopped him into the bed, and then collapsed against it.  
  
No news had returned, and she had exhausted nearly every  _one_  of her favors looking for her son with absolutely no luck.  
  
All she could do was wait and bury herself in her work.  
  
She glanced behind her at Leos, he wouldn’t wake for a day… at _least,_  from what her readings were, and she gently took his armor off, then sighed as she brushed his hair from his face.  
  
“Cero would let me know as  _soon_  as he found something, and none of the Spirit Healers can sense Taladren anywhere. All I know is that he’s still alive,” she took a deep breath, “He’ll be healthy too. If that woman did take him, she’s taking care of him, I saw no reason to believe that she’d harm him, despite her actions towards Loreilei.”

Absent-mindedly she had begun to braid Leos’ hair, her nose scrunching in thought as she considered the possibilities, “She won’t harm Tal, I have to believe that. Loreilei hasn’t crossed over, so the sword has her… or she still does, but it  _is_  a cursed sword, so I am tempted to think the former.”  
  
She frowned, “I need to know more about my family, guessing and speculating is doing no good at this point,” she put her hands down and blinked.  
  
Raine had managed to french braid about half of Leos’ hair.  
  
“Oh… that…” she covered her mouth with her hand, “Well… it actually…”  
  
“It’s not like he’s waking up any time soon…” she said, then hopped up and ran to her dresser, coming back with a brush and her hair ties that had large flowers on them, a gift from Luna.  
  
“I’m in so much trouble,” she sighed to herself, then smiled, “But this is rather therapeutic.”

* * *

It was a rare herb, underneath a waterfall, one she desperately needed for medicine.  
  
She sighed and looked around, taking her clothing off before diving into the water. She was in the forest, no one would see.

An hour later, Raine was holding a blanket close around her as she walked barefoot to the clinic, glancing behind her once to stick her tongue out at the hunter that was snickering as he stalked her.  
  
She paused as she heard the cry of something in pain, and ran the rest of the way, hurrying to the side of the hippogryph as her hands glowed with Light, looking for the source of the pain.  
  
“Mr. Leos, give me my robes and go get my herbs, please,” she said quickly, holding her hand out behind her and then dropping the blanket and quickly throwing her clothing on as she continued her inspection.  
  
“Easy,” she whispered, “What happened?”   
  
A few moments later she was dressed and speaking to the creature in bird-speak, a gift from Ladnis, and frowning as she realized that this was Loreilei’s mount.  
  
It gave her no real leads, but it did give her a map of the area she was taken to, that she didn’t recognize before, apparently it was in Suramar, and it did give her a note with the woman’s handwriting, both stuffed in Lore’s saddlebags.  
  
The latter would be taken to Dalaran to be given to Serene, she knew that the scribe could find out quite a bit from that alone, and that all that information would be given to Velerodra.  
  
The former she was keeping, at least to give to Leos or Vel for one of them to go back and search the place for things she may have missed in her shock and grief.  
  
The hippogryph was giving into despair, not feeling Loreilei anywhere, but Raine was not one to give up so easily, her sister was not among the dead… and she had thoroughly checked, so therefore, Lore was among the living… just trapped somewhere.  
  
No, the trick now was finding where the woman who thought herself their mother had taken her… find that and they’ll also find Taladren.  
  
Raine rolled up her sleeves, it was not much, but it was something that could be used to save both, and until then, she had a promise to keep to both Lore and Vel, patients here that she was caring for.  
  
She took the herb she had collected earlier, smiling sadly as she inspected it, then set to work.  
  
When the location in Suramar was decided on, the patients here could easily be moved, and this new medicine would ensure that.


	3. Thawed Priestess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to keep Raine from doing something foolish, Serene is ordered by Vel to freeze her. Mira comes back from Stormheim to clean up the mess her student got in.

**Thawed Priestess**

It was done very, very carefully.

  
No real surprise, one misstep in this procedure, and the priestess would die for any number of reasons, hypothermia being the least of the worries.  
  
Mira made a few more mental notes to discuss with Serene and Vel other ways to sedate allies in the name of protection. However, she was rather glad to have the note granting the permission from the monk. This had worried her.  
  
Aside from the obvious issue of thawing Raine out, there was the issue of what to do with the water once she destroyed the iceblock, her solution she thought worthy of the General.  
  
After all, she still needed the cold storage to store the blood and any organs she would be researching.  
  
Mira started by merely pulling Raine herself out of the ice. The rest would stay frozen, even if it wasn’t Serene’s ice breath, she knew from personal research that the dragon’s ice stayed. One of the little oddities about the albino that marked her as an abomination to the rest of her flight.  
  
After getting just Raine extracted… which was far easier than Mira had thought, she had simply reached in and grabbed her, she laid the priestess down on one of the examination tables and inserted an i.V. into her, prepping to give fluids and what other medicine she deemed necessary.  
  
“This would be so much easier if she wasn’t allergic to Fel,” Mira muttered, placing one hand on Raine’s forehead and the other on her chest, “Subject is not frozen solid, which is a relief of sorts, but rather her body temperature has been lowered to dangerous levels, causing a pause in all body functions. Some things are thawing themselves, there is a considerable amount of brain movement, and her R.E.M. is betraying her to be dreaming. Heartbeat is slow, but going, hypothesis, I only need to start the process properly, and her body will do the rest of the thawing itself.”  
  
She nodded at the verdant sphere recording the notes and it flew back to her messenger bag, then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes as very small white flames appeared at her fingertips.  
  
The heartbeat was moving at a slow pace, but much quicker than it had been, and Mira nodded, stepping back and watching the body slowly lose the bluish tinge that it had as the blood started to really move again inside.  
  
“It will be a while before she awakes,” she said to herself, “Close monitoring is needed, and warmth is necessary.”  
  
She blinked, “Oh dear… I need to make warm things for her. Soup would be the most proper thing, she would not be able to digest solid foods for a while. And while I’m at it, might as well inject the new allergy serum I developed for her…”  
  


* * *

  
_“Raine, they’re coming.”  
  
He was dragging her, and she wondered at the fear in his eyes, the screams that she was hearing outside.  
  
“What’s happening? Why were the bells ringing south of here?”  
  
He grabbed her and put her in a trunk, “Don’t panic, the Light will keep you safe,” he whispered, “I’ll draw them off, but keep quiet, the dead are walking and they smell fear.”  
  
She nodded, her eyes wide with fright as the trunk closed and she was in a world of darkness, shivering as she heard the click of a lock.  
  
When the clittering of spider like legs sounded, she had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming, and then the trunk seemed to be flying, and she heard a splash as water seeped into where she was trapped.  
  
Closing her eyes she muttered a prayer, hugging herself tightly as she waited for him to come and take her out of this place._  
  
“Heartbeat is returning to normal,” a voice calmly said, “Brain activity and small motor functions are revealing her to be awakening. Raine, it’s Mira.”  
  
There was a small point of light.  
  
“No response, body temperature is rising.”  
  
 _Feather glowed brilliantly as he flew into the ice cold rune on her leg and suddenly Raine was warm again, not paying attention as the one with her rushed the death knight, and she rushed to the remains of the phoenix’s ashes, gathering them into her arms.  
  
There was an egg, and she hugged it tightly, tears running down her face as the her beloved came back upstairs, “It’s alright, he’s gone. You’re not going to be…”  
  
She sobbed into his chest, and he said nothing as he embraced her._  
  
“Very interesting dreaming from the responses I’m showing, bad memories? Or perhaps something from…” the voice paused, “Body temperature is rising too much.”  
  
There was a rush of cool liquid running through her veins.  
  
“Raine, I have inserted a medicine into your I.V. But I need you to respond to me. I’m no good with non-blood related illnesses.”  
  
 _“Stop it Alandrine.”  
  
“You forget little bitch, I wrote everything in your head, I can take everything from you,” the blonde woman laughed, “It wouldn’t be the first time.”  
  
She clenched her fists, staring at her, “Leave. You’re right. I don’t have the strength to destroy you. However, I can ensure that you leave and never return.”  
  
Light surrounded her.  
  
“A barrier like this will only last until your death,” Alandrine snorted, “You think that little band of misfits will be strong enough to battle me again? All I have to do is wait until you do something foolish and then I’ll bring my revenge to everyone you ever cared about.”_  
  
Mild cursing was heard and more cool liquid rushing through her head, “Of course she’d have a fucking allergic reaction! Antihistamine, aspirin, I AM CALM VAROTIN! OF ALL THE TIMES TO POP IN MY HEAD, NOW ISN’T THE BEST!”  
  
There was a long pause.  
  
“I’m sorry. I’m under a bit of pressure here. I love you too,” a sigh, “Recalibrating the serum…”  
  
 _“Where is the brat?”  
  
A knife cut into her, and then another. “It can all end, just tell me where the brat that poisoned my sister’s mind is.”  
  
She could barely breathe, almost a week of differing tortures had taken it’s toll.  
  
Footsteps sounded overhead, and she heard the familiar call of Feather.  
  
“N…no… stay away,” she tried to summon a bit of light._  
  
“Raine, now would be a real good time to respond…” a curse word, “Why is the heartbeat slowing…”  
  
A pause.  
  
“FUCK!” scattered motion and then a heavy weight on her chest, “Raine, I’m very sorry for this, but I’m not going to let Cero pay the price that he did for you to die to STUPIDITY AND CARELESSNESS!”  
  
There was the smell of burning and a great pain.  
  
Somewhere a monitor started to beep again.  
  
“That’s it. I’m having a talk with Vel’s mother,” the voice was still annoyed, but far quieter.  
  
 _“You need to go back.”_  
  
She glanced at the man that was weaving flowers into her hair, “What was that Father?”  
  
“Little Rainbow, you need to wake up. Seems to me like you concentrate to much on the bad things. Now come on, what did I always say to you growing up.”  
  
“Always make sure the lotion drawer is full when Lord Starhunter comes over,” the child said solemnly and he blushed.  
  
“Not that!” he squeaked, “No, about the silver phoenix,” he pointed, “Look Rainbow, she’s right there at the edge of your vision, and she’s strong, she’s full of life and light, and even if she gets sad and cries, she makes such a pretty show and it let’s flowers grow.”  
  
She giggled, “So, even if bad stuff happens, there’s always good things.”  
  
“That’s the gist of it Rainey. Now your son needs you, your sister needs you,” he hugged her, “Even what’s left of your real mom needs you. And there’s a poor woman going crazy trying to keep you alive. So wake up Rainbow,” he tapped her nose, “I’ll catch you later.”  
  
Raine opened her eyes, taking in a sharp breath as she slowly propped herself on her elbows to sleepily look around.  
  
“Y…you’re awake!” she was suddenly in a back breaking hug, then Mira blushed and back away, “I mean, of course you’re awake. I had to clean up…” she hit the side of her head, “Fuck’s sake Raine, you have no idea what I went through to thaw you out.”  
  
“How many times?”  
  
“Four… I’m not counting the few times you had an allergic reaction to my first attempts of medicine,” Mira sighed, “The good news is I think I finally have that allergy of yours beat. Now sit there, I’ve got some broth if you’re up to eating.”  
  
Raine sighed, leaning back to the pillow, looking around the clinic she was in.  
There was work to be done. As soon as she could she needed to speak with both Vel and the General.  
  
But for now, she had to regain her strength.  
  
Even if it did mean eating Mira’s cooking.


	4. Regaining Strength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taladren tries to figure out where he is, and Raine is gathering her strength and resources to find him and Loreilei.

**Regaining Strength**

Taladren wondered where his mother was.  
  
It wasn’t that he disliked this elder woman that was caring for him, she was a little funny.  
  
But it was odd for Mama to be away this long, and Auntie Litsu or the funny orc or the even funnier elf that also looked after him were nowhere to be seen.  
  
There was just that weird sword that Gram-gram told him to stay away from… and he didn’t need her to tell her, the thing  _scared_  him.  
  
He sat and pouted, he hadn’t even seen Auntie Dey in a long time.  
  
Mama had said she was going to a dangerous place…  
  
Taladren took a deep breath and puffed out his chest, he’d have to be brave, the loud man that made Mama turn all those funny shades of red told him so.   
  
Mama had work to do, and then she’d come and get him.  
  
He hoped that Gram-gram told Auntie Litsu where she was taking him…

* * *

Raine was tied down to the bed, a measure Mira had taken after the pharmacist had tried on several attempts to get up to work.  
  
“Your fever is still there, but it is going down,” the blood mage said as she shook the thermometer and set it aside, “With any luck Vel has gotten in contact with the General, so when you’re strong enough, she’ll know where Taladren is and bring him here.”  
  
“No, I have to go…” Raine struggled and her efforts were met with a spoonful of some of the worst soup she had  _ever_  tasted.  
  
At this point, she was questioning if it was soup…  
  
“You have to rest and get better, and then you have to get to work on the cure for the Withered. We will handle getting Taladren back,” Mira crossed her arms, “Or rather Cero and Vel will.”  
  
“If it was Leona…”  
  
Mira’s eyes flashed and Raine almost regretted saying that.  
  
 _Almost._  
  
“Taladren is alone out there! With someone that could mean him harm!”  
  
“Except, none of your contacts in the spirit world have reported harm to him or to Loreilei. At least not fatal…” Mira took a deep breath, “Hypothesis, Taladren is possibly the safest person in regards to the woman that is claiming to be your and Loreilei’s mother… a hypothesis you formulated,” she held up a stack of papers, “I read your notes. Also, I have to point out, you are in absolutely no condition to look for him, and in fact will put him in greater chance of harm. I have my own contacts as well looking out, I know what happened the day he was kidnapped, and what I witnessed thus far only supports this hypothesis. Taladren is safe,” she smiled sadly, “Far safer than anyone else right now, we simply do not know where he is.”  
  
Raine struggled again, then laid back and sighed, “Mira… I have to…”  
  
“You have to get better and wait on news from Vel,” she crossed her arms, “I’ll go look for Taladren as soon as back up arrives, you are on bed-rest. Being hysterical will not aid him now, we must remain calm.”  
  
There was a wonderful argument that Raine had, but it was lost in a coughing fit, and Mira frowned as she measured out another dosage of medicine and injected it into the I.V.  
  
Raine’s eyes slowly closed and the blood mage sighed wearily, then took a deep breath, then took out her notebook and jotted down a few observations.  
  
"We will find him,” she whispered quietly to Raine, “And we will bring him here. Because quite frankly, Vel has designed our quarters to be the safest place in Azeroth,” she put the notebook away, “And after Cero, Theravir, and I put our gold in, it will be more than safe.”  
  
Mira crossed her arms, “Though I will admit worry in the fact that it seems to be taking Cero a bit longer than usual to find someone. I’ll send my own trackers.”  
  


* * *

Raine woke up suddenly, then was quiet.  
  
In the other room, she could hear Mira walking around, muttering calculations and figures, and carefully, she looked around, finding herself to still be connected to the I.V. and various machines to monitor her vitals.  
  
Fair enough, she had been suffering from illness after illness.  
  
Though after the initial fever, most of it had been Mira’s doing.  
  
Raine had to admit there was wisdom in it as her fingers glowed with light and she removed the I.V. first, for one, Mira had been dealing with a woman that would not see reason at the time. She was quickly forced to admit that Serene was correct in freezing her.  
  
In her own way at least.  
  
And for two, Mira had some sense in what she had been doing. Immunizations against various sickness would keep her safe in this clinic, and that allergy had been rather cumbersome.  
  
The priestess sat up, still connected to the monitoring devices, but carefully keeping her pulse and breathing steady as to not alert Mira until she was ready.  
  
She had been dreaming.  
  
She saw her son, playing in a meadow with the woman who thought her Loreilei’s and Raine’s mother.  
  
She saw Lore, trapped in an unknown place, tested by an unknown thing.  
  
She saw Kit, headstrong as always, going over countless maps with an undead dragon that the girl would occasionally kiss on the cheek.  
  
She saw Taladren again, more and more, safe.  
  
For now at least.  
  
Raine turned to the mirror in the clinic, and regarded the sad eyed reflection of herself.  
  
“We were not ready to face her before,” Ladnis said quietly.  
  
“Are we now?” Raine answered.  
  
Neither the phoenix or the priest had an answer, and her mind quieted.  
  
“Ready or not, we must,” both sighed, and then Raine nodded to herself, gathering light within her.  
  
Mira would come running as soon as the instruments started to malfunction to see Raine calmly sitting there with silvery golden wings of Light.

* * *

 

_“Varotin…”_  
  
She said the name in a half sigh, half whisper, closing her eyes and going into her mind to travel their bond.  
  
It was far too soon to leave Raine with a blood-clone, the priestess was starting to lose the soft calm that had kept her from going after Taladren as soon as she awoke… Mira didn’t trust her to stay unless she thought herself under watch.

It was part of the reason she was piling on every single wounded soldier she could onto the poor girl. Raine had gone to taking the short naps that only medical staff could manage, piling in all the rest they could into twenty minutes or so, then rising to take another batch of hurt.  
  
Though… Mira was being kept just as busy. The Legion’s invasion was hardly good for anyone’s health.  
  
 _I need to contact Cero. Figure out what’s going on with that situation… even if the blood stone is telling me he’s relatively happy and safe._  
  
There was a pinch to her, and a scolding for thinking about another male, and she chuckled at Varotin, turning into the bond.  
  
They were still far apart. At the very least, he and Leona were having a grand time in Highmountain while she worked at the clinic, but she needed to contact Vel as well, suggest the two for work.  
  
Leona would like helping those here, and as for the corruption from the demons…  
  
Well, if the two of them could stand being around her, then there was no issue at all.  
  
Another pinch, a bit of a whine for her not being able to stop thinking about work, and Mira sighed, opening her eyes to glance at the unfinished charts on her desk.  
  
 _I’m making breakthroughs, I think I…  
_  
She smiled as she felt his pout and closed her eyes again.  
  
 _I miss you. Both of you. There’s a few things for you two to wrestle over here once you’re done in Highmountain.  
  
And I still haven’t punished you properly for letting a caster get away with keeping his tongue,_ she chuckled,  _We’ll handle that while Leona is helping gather some materials for Raine’s medicines.  
_  
She sighed, “It absolutely  _was_  your fault you got dragged into Helheim…”

Her eyes shot open at the sound of shouting voices and she sat up,  _Damnit… I smell a lot of blood… I’ll be back with you later.  
_  
She smiled at the mental hug and promise of  _more_ …  
  
Then stood, pulling on her scrubs as she went to see what fresh hell was brought in.

 

 


	5. Memories of a Phoenix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raine prepares for the coming storm. Feather remembers...

**Memories of a Phoenix**

Raine sat quietly on the bridge outside of Silvermoon, her feet dangling off the edge as she stared up at the sky, trying not to think too hard of the amulets or the task…

Vel was partly right, she would run off on her own. If she thought she could do it alone, she would have already left.

“Do I want Mr. Leos there because of what Mira told me, or do I actually trust him in this,” she muttered to herself, thinking of her insistence earlier, “I… I can’t remember anything of him before my death, but…” she hugged herself, “Something important happened for Taladren to be here. And I trust in that at least. Besides, I want to make sure that his wounds have not opened…”

She blushed, a small voice whispering the other reason.

“Not until we’re sure,” she said quietly.

The night was quiet, even the songbirds normally summoned to this area seemed subdued, and she stood, wandering into the Woods, heading towards the small farm near the Eastern Sanctum.

It had become overgrown in the months it had since been shut down, and she sat on the stairs leading to the porch, staring up at the sky.

A small whisper of a memory came to her. She had laid down on a hill somewhere, under these same stars, next to someone…

A flash of light caught her eye, and she smiled as she spied the Phoenix resting on the rafters of the cottage.

“Tell the General that I’m waiting,” she said quietly, then blinked, “Feather… You were with me until the week before my death…”

No. It was a foolish question. Best not to even ask.

Still…

“You wouldn’t happen to know the things I have forgotten? Or who besides Alandrine would take those memories… Would you?”

* * *

 

 

She had come to these graves again, holding Feather’s egg on her lap as she placed flowers on each one and sang the soft lullabies she had when the children had been alive and patients of her clinic.  
  
Her husband was asking her to return to their home in the south, a place she did not wish to return to, it was far too cold, far too many walls…  
  
The Light did not stay in such a dark place, and it had led her back here, back to her beginning.  
  
Araindwen frowned at herself, she had made so many mistakes since leaving the destroyed clinic. She was still young and foolish.  
  
She found her gaze turning to a small grave near the back of the cemetery, one she had carved herself.  
  
Kaelona would be ten this year. Would her mother had fallen for that death knight, would she have felt the need to marry her “savior?”  
  
The priestess hugged the phoenix egg, did it even matter? Kaelona was stillborn, she didn’t even get a  _chance_  to try to live.  
  
It was a far less cruel fate than the other children that had died in the days following Arthas’ march.  
  
Luckily… none of those had ever risen as Scourge.  
  
Raine suspected that perhaps they were safe from that fate… for now at least.   
  
Though she could not figure out why.  
  
She paused in her singing, then looked around the graves in confusion.  
  
 _Where was the one I had made for Alandrine after I recovered her body from the rubble?  
_  
Standing, she started to search each grave, trying very hard to remember where it was that she had buried her, more things flying around in her mind, and then…  
  
 _The dates on Kaelona’s grave.  
_  
Something very important was there, there was something hidden from Raine and all she had to do… she found herself running towards the small grave, the last one in the cemetery, her eyes widening as she read it.  
  
 _Stillborn… she was stillborn…  
  
Then why does this have five years of life listed? Exactly five years! And the name  **I** had chosen for her,  **Kaelona Laurana** … not Kaelona Alandrine…  
_  
Raine covered her mouth as more tendrils of memory started to weave together, “She’s alive!” her voice barely strangled out, “M…my daughter… she’s alive!”  
  
It was coming back.  
  
 _All_  of it in horrible detail.  
  
“Alandrine…” she looked around the graves, the decimated clinic, “S…she did this… and… she’s still alive…”  
  
The thought settled over her like ice, and she unconsciously began to gather remnants of light around her, starting to see in the shadows the small faceless figures of terrified children.  
  
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she fell to her knees, “I… I couldn’t protect any of you!”  
  
Feather’s egg was shaking and the light was still gathering around her.  
  
A hand touched her shoulder and she looked up at the smiling child that kissed her forehead, then sat down with the rest, all staring at her with wide eyes.  
  
 _“One more song Ms Raine?”  
_  
Araindwen felt tears welling in her eyes and she straightened up, clasping her hands together and taking a deep breath, singing one last time for the Children.  
  
Light filled the clearing, starting with the hatching phoenix in her arms and spreading to the tips of the trees at the edge of the site.  
  
When it was over, Araindwen stood alone as a phoenix hatchling settled on her shoulder.  
  
Not quite alone, there was a thud, and a cry of “FUCKING HELL,” and she turned, her eyes widening to see what had happened…  
  
 _Raine gasped as she sat up, then looked at Feather, “I… the memories returned?” she asked in a quiet voice, then frowned, standing up, “But… why do I not remember that… what happened to make…”_  
  
The Children… that’s why she had told Luna to…  
  
She covered her mouth, even her memories of Kit had been intact somewhat for a time…   
  
No, now was  **not**  the time to worry about such things, now she must go and rescue Taladren. Vel had the amulet, she knew that south was the first direction to go.  
  
Feather chirped at her and flapped his wings, rising to fly back to Cero, and she watched him go, more puzzled by the dream his lullaby had given as his answer than she ever was over the question before.  
  
She and Ladnis would search for those answers later.   
  
 **Taladren must come first.**


	6. Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raine has the second pendant... now all that's left to do is find Loreilei and Taladren and bring them home.

**Dawn**

Raine sang in the dawn as she always did, her voice lifting with those of the songbirds as her hands clasped in prayer and golden feathery wings appeared for the briefest of seconds at her back as the sun rose.

  
Her voice fell silent, and the feathers disintegrated into light, and she frowned as she stared into the east, her hand going to touch a long pendant hanging at her neck… pulling it out to look at the bloodstone Mira had given her.

A long crack ran down the center of it, and her breath caught in her throat.  
 **“Just…a little longer Taladren,”** she whispered, clutching in and hugging it close to her,  **“We have the second pendant, I’ll be there soon.”**  
  
Her worries briefly turned to Leos then… maybe he couldn’t be reached because he was hunting, and was so close to the trap that held their son.  
  
Taladren was so close now… she felt that all she had to do was reach a little further to grasp the boy’s hand.  
  
Last night’s events ran through her mind, meeting her cousin, finding Loreilei’s journals, the General and Theravir showing up with the second pendant.  
  
Just one more… and then the tome with the spell of opening…  
  
All of the pieces were coming together, the puzzle and riddle left to solve almost done.  
  
Raine’s fingers went to the other pendant on her neck, one pulling her to the south, to fear.  
  
Could the last one be in Suncrown?  
  
The healer shivered, rubbing her arms for warmth as terrifying memories… the only ones Alandrine would let her keep… came floating to the surface.  
  
 ** _“I’ll come and get you! Promise!”_**  
  
She frowned, that memory and voice didn’t fit with the ones of Kaellon shoving her into the trunk to protect her from the undead. Or the terrifying one after of water rising in that small box and the skittering…  
  
 _Stop. There’s no point in going down those dark paths.  
  
We’ll have to go back there… the pendant is pulling to Suncrown.  
  
Is it? We only know that we have to go south of here.  
_  
Raine frowned and didn’t answer Ladnis.  
  
The House Silversong did not seem to have anything to do with the House Starhunter. It was merely a coincidence that there seemed to be a clue in the Ghostlands.  
  
Many houses had land that way.  
  
 _It was where your father found you as well. Remember? It was further south than Suncrown, in the troll village, but…_  
  
Raine frowned, looking in that direction.  
  
The end of the quest seemed to take her to the beginning.  
  
Was the pendant something she had once carried?

* * *

The golden door stood in the Dead Scar, seemingly not to notice the undead that roamed around it, and they seemed to not notice it.  
  
Raine sat on the grass on the western side and watched it.  
  
They had found where Taladren and Loreilei were… even if they couldn’t get in there yet.  
  
The book… they needed the book.  
  
She hugged her knees, she’d wait here for the mage and her cousin to appear with it. Right now… that was all she could do.


	7. Visions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From the SaveLore event, riddles made up by Vel, visions written by me.

**Visions**

__**“Lock’s locations being ever changing based on who is holding the keys and where the holder is, has been and will be.”  
**   


**_Past:_ **

**“Below the altar with three beaks, where the worshippers of wind and eaters of dead feast.  
  
A paradise now claimed by death, a place where ancient enemies still draw breath.  
  
Waters flow west from an ancient Empire’s pass, towards a village with a key to the past.”**   
  


_A flash of images, a family on a picnic with a blonde daughter and mother watching over the baby. A shadow creeps towards the happy family, a black serpent, and suddenly, there is heard a scream as they fade._

_A hooded figure is seen leaving the baby in the fountain, painting blood and flowers on her and then vanishing into shadow before two men appear, one in armor with the recognizable to some crest of Starhunter sewn on his cloak, the other robed and wearing glasses._

_The robed man takes the baby and both walk away._

_The image fades…_   
  
**Present:**   
  
**“Seek the ground that rest between two seats, within the sacred water’s reach.  
  
Where sun was shattered and became whole again, north of the moon and south of the frozen lands.  
  
Across the bridge over a square, look towards the fel glow to guide you, and in it’s shadow the key is there.”  
**   
_The crypt is quiet and still, resting beneath the apple trees._ _A crack runs through the stone, splitting in half, and a golden phoenix flies out then into Raine and through her to a point beyond._  
  
_The image fades…_   


_**Future:** _

****“Seek out the spark of life along a trail of death, where bones and earth are all that’s left.**  **

**A scar of death cut from a Royal hand, the dead’s anger still haunts the land.  
  
Broken sanctum of the east, it’s wings point towards the green, and beneath it’s branches lay your key.”  
  
**

_The vision is quiet; yet, instead of a desolate wasteland, the Scar is covered with trees, Eversong healed with flowers and life._

_Here, next to the First Tree, there is a cottage built around it, a man on top of the roof, putting fresh thatch in._

_On the porch, sits three women, one obviously Raine, the second a red-head with a kazoo in her mouth, both sitting in rocking chairs, as on the floor of the porch, a third blonde woman in heavy armor sits, cleaning her sword._  
In front of the house a boy approaching manhood is practicing archery, and he lets loose an arrow that seems nearly of light into his target.  
  
The image fades…


	8. Song of Home and Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion to the SaveLore event, at least for my writings.

**Song of Home and Questions**

The clinic was quiet when Raine returned to it, her son sleeping in her arms, and she directed Lore to carry the the woman they had faced to an empty room, then placed Taladren on a couch and spent the next few moments treating her.  
  
Loreilei was alive. Taladren was safe.  
  
And she had kept her promise to save this woman, the mother that she never knew. It had taken all of them to defeat her, and it was yet another debt she would never repay, but Cyra was no longer plagued by the shadows that nearly destroyed them all.  
  
Still…  
  
There was a worry, a bit of darkness had passed from her when she had taken Cyra’s hand. A warm comforting one, not like the harsh void that others carried.  
It was the same sort of her Light, soft, as opposed to the blinding that others carried.  
  
The small shadow complimented her, and it frightened her.  
  
Something to be worried about later, she pushed the thoughts out of her mind, Cyra was not saved yet. And there were others here in this clinic.  
  
Once she was stabilized, Raine left Taladren sleeping in her room, and went to look in on the other patients. It would be a long time before morning.  
  
Ladnis did not speak to her when she passed her reflection. The phoenix seemed worn out and tired, the brightness to expel the Faceless One had her flames down to an ember. Yet, she sensed the golden eyes watching, smiling sadly at the her son.  
  
Or was it Araindwen that had…  
  
She sighed, she did not know. What Cero had done at the Sunwell to bring her back… she had never understood it, only knew that there was a price.  
  
One that she would  _never_ repay.  
  
She peeked in at her family, Cyra still sleeping in the bed, Lore sitting next to her and keeping careful watch, as Tal slept peacefully on the couch.  
It was almost complete, only a few people were missing now.  
  
 _We need to speak with Kit…_    
  
Raine nodded at the small voice, then went to the gardens.  
  
Dawn was coming, and time for her morning ritual, one of the few she carried as a Priestess, one she had made a long time ago.  
  
This morning’s song would be one of reunion, of lost family and friends once more found.  
  
Soon Deylestria and Leos would return as well…

* * *

Lore was sleeping now, and Raine smiled as she left her sister’s room, closing the door quietly and walking down the hall to check on her other patients.  
  
“Where’s your dad?”  **  
**  
She paused as she heard one of the Nightfallen children ask that question, and peered into the garden area where Taladren was playing with some of the refuges.  
  
“I don’ have one,” he said, sticking a finger in his mouth, “Big sister says I go’ ‘dopted by General Sunsoul, but I don’ remember him.” **  
  
**“You _have_  to have a dad,” the girl speaking to him crossed her arms, “My dad’s hurt, but mom says he’s going to be fine. And I never met anyone that didn’t have a dad before.” **  
**  
Raine swallowed, about to say something when Taladren just smiled and shrugged, “I never met someone with a dad. Dun and Aerie don’t have one either.” **  
**  
The girl looked at him oddly and stomped away, and Raine sighed, about to go back to her duties.  
  
“Mama?” **  
**  
She blinked, glancing back out into the garden to see Taladren peering into the shadows she had been standing in.  
  
“Yes dearest?” **  
**  
The small boy walked over to her and she bent down to pick him up,“D…do I have a dad?” **  
**  
Raine blushed, “The General Sunsoul…” **  
**  
“A _real_  dad?” **  
**  
That was the question wasn’t it?  
  
Raine knew what Mira’s blood work had stated. But… she couldn’t remember how.  
  
It was… like her non-memories of Kit, a shadow hid them, but…  
  
This shadow didn’t feel as if it meant to harm her. Not initially.  
  
She sighed, she needed to speak with Leos about the matter, and there had been no sign of him for  _months._  
  
“You do,” she said quietly, “But it’s… complicated.” **  
**  
“Why?”  
  
Raine blushed, “I don’t remember…” **  
**  
Taladren stared at her then giggled, kissing her cheek, “Mama never remembers anything!” he teased, going down and running off to find the other children staying at the clinic.  
  
She sighed, folding her hands, then frowned.  
  
“It’s time I did something on that, isn’t it,”she scolded herself, going to her study and taking out a piece of parchment and her quill.  
  
 _General Cero Sunsoul,_  
  
Greetings, I know that you have been busy, but I wanted to make my report and a small request.  
  
Loreilei has been brought here from Broken Shore, sustaining multiple injuries, but should be cleared to return to the fight as soon as I deem her physically and emotionally stable. The latter may take a bit more time than usual, but we are speaking.  
  
Other than that, the clinic has been full with Nightfallen refugees, and soldiers from both the Alliance and the Horde. As per Vel’s request, my staff is handling the monetary matters, they should be sending her the fiscal report soon. As I am seen to be a bleeding heart, they do not inform me of the profits made here, but considering our robust amount of supplies and general happiness of the staff… I think it is well above what Vel has expected it to be.  
  
Kit has been writing, and I have been sending her guides to make potions and guides to herb-lore. From what I have seen, she is progressing nicely as a healer.  
  
Taladren has been playing with the Nightfallen children here. He is showing an affinity for Light and for healing, but I notice that he seems a tad preoccupied with finding things hidden from normal sight. He spent the first few days here finding a mess of secret passages that I did not know existed in this facility. It seems a fun game for him, and he never gets lost, possibly making him the first in our family to be able to stay in sight.  
  
I do… have a small request.  
  
Is there a way that you can retrieve lost memories? I know that what Alandrine did is irreversible, but… I want to be able to answer a question that I currently cannot. It seems odd that a singular night… at least I think it was one night… had been sealed away when the rest of the surrounding time is as clear as crystal.  
  
I understand if you cannot. It is only a small memory, and not important.  
  
With Gratitude,  
Raine


End file.
